Simon Gittany should be jailed for 20 years: prosecutor

Convicted murderer Simon Gittany has demonstrated a "complete lack of remorse" for his crime and should be sentenced to at least 20 years' jail, prosecutors have told a Sydney court.

The 40-year-old killer sat listening intently on Thursday as the NSW Supreme Court considered how he should be punished for throwing his 31-year-old fiancee, Lisa Harnum from their luxury, 15th floor apartment in July 2011.

Related Content

Mr Tedeschi said that Gittany's refusal to accept any responsibility for the crime - from the immediate aftermath when he told police Ms Harnum had committed suicide, to his continuing claim that it was an accident - demonstrated a "complete absence of contrition or remorse".

This made it "impossible to make an assessment ... of his prospects of rehabilitation" or "the likelihood of reoffending".

Advertisement

Mr Tedeschi said the many character references from Gittany's family and friends were of "little assistance" because those who wrote them rejected the guilty verdict handed down by Justice Lucy McCallum last year, and completely ignored the controlling nature of Gittany's relationship with Ms Harnum.

"The picture that these references depict is of a relationship between the offender and deceased which is completely and utterly benign - loving, gentle, respectful.